Alex woke up to a persistent—
No, wait. Hold on.
Lexi woke up to a persistent gentle pitter-patter of raindrops against a window.
Sitting up in bed groggily and looking around, Lexi was momentarily confused. The bedroom was unfamiliar. This wasn’t the academy dorms, and certainly not Lexi’s barren dorm room. No, no, this bedroom was much more personalized to its former occupant.
The bedroom had an undeniable cozy vibe to it. The bed Lexi woke up in, which was located just under the window, had a dark green duvet, tan sheets, and a small wooden headboard. The walls were painted a warm yellow and the room was surrounded with various lamps, which complimented the small wooden desk that looked like it had seen a million moves, as well as the off-white square cubby-hole shelving filled with an extensive vinyl record collection. A well-loved older magitech record player—no speakers required—sat atop the shelf, situated in the center for optimum listening. Just above it, a framed cross-stitch pattern said Den Sweet Den in kitschy cursive letters.
And the plants! A small rubber tree sapling sat on the floor, long dangling leafy plants cascaded from hanging pots, and small flower pots and succulents were scattered on the shelf, desk, and nightstand. Despite the dismal grayish lighting coming from the rainy day out the window, the plants turned the bedroom into a veritable jungle oasis. Lexi half-expected a wild animal to appear from behind a fern at any second.
Speaking of wild animals.
Lexi started to remember exactly what the hell had happened the night before.
She—she was still getting used to the new pronoun—tossed off the covers quickly. She was no longer completely naked, and was now wearing the boxer briefs she had worn under her clothes to Club Demiurge. Her other clothes, including her jeans and black hoodie, were neatly folded on the nightstand, with her wallet that had been pickpocketed resting on top. However, her magitech dagger was nowhere to be seen.
No matter. It hadn’t helped her at all anyway.
She traced her fingers over her skin on her bare body. Was it just her imagination, or did her skin feel softer, somehow? Her face hardly had any stubble at all, and in fact it might have less stubble than when she freshly shaved before going to the nightclub. The claw marks on her chest were healed, but still pink with fresh scar tissue. Strangely, as she reached her hand up to where her neck met her shoulder, the spot where Syd had bitten her was completely smooth, as if she had never been bitten at all.
Still, the claw marks were proof that last night wasn’t just a dream.
She was really a beastess!
Lexi squealed with excitement, then immediately covered her mouth in embarrassment.
Realizing she had just fallen into an old habit, she chastised herself. What was she doing?
She was a girl now! She knew it in her bones! She could do whatever the fuck she wanted!
And so she did.
Lexi kicked the bed, bounced up and down, and giggled with sheer girlish glee. Pure, unrestrained joy flowed out of her body. It was just her, alone in this room, waking up as her authentic self for the first time, so she could completely let loose! Who cares what other people would think if they saw her now—
“Hey there, cutie!”
“EEP!” Lexi screamed and pulled up the covers of the bed, turning her head towards the newly opened bedroom door.
Syd smiled warmly and ducked under the top of the doorframe, leaning against the side of it and crossing her arms once she was inside the room. She was blocking the light from the hallway, so she turned on a lamp on the desk. The Amazonian beastess was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tight-fitting cropped tank top, a lazy yet comfortable around-the-house fit. The only thing out of place was the spiked leather collar around her neck with the golden crescent moon dog tag, but it only made Syd look hotter to Lexi, honestly.
The top of her head was just a few inches shy of touching the ceiling, and yet despite how big and intimidating her imposing frame appeared, Lexi wasn’t scared at all, just surprised. In fact, Syd was the one person she was happiest to have walk in on her.
Funny how much had changed between them ever since Syd scared the hell out of her in that tiny nightclub office.
“Morning, sunshine,” the tall buff woman said, brushing her unkempt purple bangs out of her face. “Well, closer to afternoon really.”
After she collected herself, finger-brushing her own short brown hair back, Lexi said, “I’m sorry, I don’t usually sleep in like this …”
“Oh Goddess above, you’re fine, Lexi. I only woke up like an hour ago myself.” Syd looked to one side and bit her lip, fiddling with the dog tag of her collar. “It was a late night for all of us …”
All of us?
Oh right! She was in Syd’s … den? Yeah, that’s what she called it. Syd had said it was like a shared living space for beastesses who don’t already have a place to stay.
The previous evening was starting to come back to her. She was tired at the time, but Lexi did remember being unchained, given her old clothes to change back into, and getting a ride to the den with a couple other beastesses. It was a big van, and Syd took up most of the backseat, but there was just enough room for Lexi to squeeze in next to her.
Lexi blushed as another memory came back.
“Yeah, I, uh … sorry for falling asleep on you in the car ride, Syd.”
“Lexi, seriously—you don’t have to apologize. Don’t worry about it!” Syd laughed and carefully sat on the bed next to Lexi, which groaned in protest and tilted slightly as her massive weight settled on it. “If I have a problem with something, I’ll let you know, okay? I thought it was adorable, to be honest.”
Lexi blushed even harder.
Well, if it was really okay … and Syd did promise she would let Lexi know …
“Can I … hug you?” Lexi asked quietly. “If that’s okay with you, of course—”
Without warning, Lexi was scooped up out of the covers and into a tight embrace. Despite her strength and how easily she could have crushed Lexi’s ribcage, the Amazonian woman was only holding her just tight enough to keep her there. Syd practically engulfed the smaller trans woman with her gigantic body, and once she realized what was happening, Lexi put her arms around Syd and held her tight.
Every damn time, it never ceased to amaze Lexi just how fucking big Syd was. Lexi couldn’t get her arms around her! She was so soft and warm. Her whole world at the moment was just this big strong woman holding her, letting her rest her head on her wide chest, stroking her hair gently.
… Lexi had never felt safer in someone’s arms.
She started to cry.
And then she couldn’t stop.
Big, choking, gasping sobs. It went on for uncountable minutes. All the while, Syd continued stroking her hair—no judgment, no words, just gentle touch. Her tears and snot flowed down Syd’s chest and started soaking the top half of her crop top.
I must look so gross, Lexi thought distantly. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had just held her like this. Even Sophie wasn’t much of a hugger.
When she could just barely get ahold of herself again, Lexi opened her eyes and saw the mess she had made. She looked up at Syd and almost apologized again on reflex, but stopped herself when she saw Syd’s beautiful smiling scarred face, and remembered what she had just said.
“Th-thank you, Syd,” Lexi sniffled. She didn’t even know what she was thanking Syd for. Just for being there, just for being her, she supposed.
“Of course, pup,” Syd said, squeezing Lexi tighter.
‘Pup’, eh? It was growing on her. She could get used to that.
Lexi squeezed back as hard as she could, before finally releasing herself from Syd’s hug and grabbing a tissue to blow her nose.
“I hope this bedroom’s owner is okay with me crying all over their bedsheets and using their tissues,” she said, chuckling before blowing her nose again.
“I’m sure Mac would be fine with it,” Syd replied.
Ah. So this was Mac’s room. Not quite what Lexi was expecting from someone who looked so mean and scary from her photo.
Lexi looked at the plants again. They all appeared healthy and vibrant.
“Do you come in here and water her plants?”
“Every week,” Syd said. She chuckled dryly. “She’d rip me a new one if I didn’t.” Syd’s expression became more muted, but then she grinned and suddenly changed the subject. “Do you want some breakfast? Meg made us a late brunch, and her pancakes are fucking amazing.”
Meg? The beastess as big as Syd, with the magitech bionic arm?
Oh, yeah, of course! Syd mentioned last night that she lived with Roxy, Audrey, Meg, and Sabrina. No wonder they spoke up first in support of their acting beta during that … meeting? Interrogation? Ritual? Whatever that was in the train station.
They were her pack-mates now. What did that mean? Were they friends, family, comrades, allies, or—
Lexi’s stomach growled, loudly, before she could consider the implications of that thought any further.
“I could absolutely demolish some pancakes right about now,” she said, grabbing her stomach.
She had never felt so hungry. It was almost painful. Is this why beastesses were so damn big?
“Get dressed and c’mon downstairs, pup,” Syd said, lightly punching Lexi in the shoulder. “I’ll give you a tour of the den after breakfast!”
After Syd headed down and Lexi had gotten dressed into her clothes—which felt newly unfamiliar and baggy, but it was all she had—she hopped downstairs, taking them two at a time, and nearly collided with Roxy, who was leaving the kitchen with a short-stack of pancakes on a plate.
“Hey! Watch it, fresh meat!” she said.
“Ah! My bad!” Lexi said, backing away to the side so Roxy could get through.
With a smile, the hyena beastess said as she passed, “Just grab some before Syd eats them all.”
“I heard that!” came Syd’s voice from the dining room.
Lexi nodded and entered the kitchen more carefully.
Instantly she was bombarded with delicious smells—eggs, bacon, pancakes, coffee, and all sorts of freshly made breakfast food. The kitchen was cozy and homely, decorated with little knick-knacks and wood paneled cabinets that complimented the brick backsplash for a rustic vibe. The fridge had magnets, stickers, and photos all over it—most of them animal-themed, of course—and the island in the center was covered in large platters of breakfast food laid out in a buffet style with plates and cutlery stacked to one side.
Over by the Gnosis-branded coffee maker and leaning against the counter next to the stovetop was Meg, drying her hands—both the magitech one and the organic one—with a dish towel. She had rolled up the sleeves of her red flannel button-down shirt so she could clean her hands better, and once she was done she wiped the sweat off her brow and slicked back her short blue-tipped brown hair. Along with baggy blue jeans stained with motor oil and grease, she was wearing an apron that said “Bear-y Good Cook” with an illustration of a cute little grizzly bear flipping some pancakes below the text. It clung to her thicker frame tightly, accentuating her powerlifter build.
God—no, Goddess above—she really was taller than Syd. Just by an inch or two, but still.
Sipping a cup of tea next to her was Sabrina, who looked like a little girl’s dress-up doll brought to life. A half-foot taller than Lexi and in full femme makeup, she had big fuzzy pink slippers and a matching two-piece set of pink pajamas that were flowy on her slender frame, and which were covered in little cats—no, lynxes! Lexi could tell from the ear tufts.
Sabrina spotted Lexi first, and her eyes grew wide mid-sip. She put her mug down carefully, smiled excitedly, swished her long blonde-highlighted brown hair out of her face, and ran over to give Lexi a hug.
“Oh my Goddess, hey you!” she yelled, picking up Lexi in her hug and jumping up and down with bubbly energy.
“H-hi there … Sabrina, right?” Lexi said. She was a bit dazed from the sudden friendliness as Sabrina put her down.
“That’s my name, don’t wear it out!” she replied with a wink. “You’re just in time, Lexi—Meg, like, just finished making the last batch of pancakes.”
“G’mornin’, hun,” Meg said to Lexi with a nod and a warm smile. “Can I getcha a fresh cup of joe?”
“Sure!”
Meg reached over to the coffee pot with her non-mechanical right hand, grabbed a mug off the table with her magitech left one—no metal claws on her fingertips this time—and poured Lexi some coffee. Lexi thanked her, blew on the hot beverage, and took a sip.
Goddess above. That’s a damn fine cup of coffee.
Lexi frowned. Something was off. She placed the coffee mug carefully on the counter.
“Why are you all suddenly so nice to me? Roxy called me a paladin scumbag last night.”
“Weeell,” Sabrina said, one finger on her chin, “to be honest, we weren’t sure you were going to accept our offer. Roxy also likes to scare people like that! I’m sure she didn’t mean it, like, personally. She’s a big softie when you get to know her, trust me!”
Lexi wasn’t convinced. Meg placed her bionic hand on Lexi’s shoulder. She flinched on instinct, but relaxed when Meg spoke.
“Listen, darlin’—all of us got the low-down on yer files. We weren’t exactly … pleased as punch about your choice to be a paladin. But we also know why ya did it. We had to scare ya a lil’ bit. Getcha to realize just how much better yer life could be. We’re nice to ya now not just because you joined us, but because ya followed yer heart.”
“Yeah, I guess. Although I didn’t join entirely of my free will. Alpha Lea did threaten to kill my best friend.”
Meg laughed and took her hand off Lexi’s shoulder. “Yeah, I s’ppose she did! But I’ll letcha in on a lil’ secret.” She leaned down closer to Lexi. “That was just to getcha to be our spy—ya never had to be a beastess or join our pack, you know.” She winked. “That was entirely your decision, hun. We just offered it to ya when ya asked how you could help us. Because we knew deep down ya wanted to be one of us.”
Dammit. Meg was right.
“The propaganda that academy tried to cram into your brain ran sooo deep!” Sabrina chimed in, grabbing her mug of tea along with a plate full of eggs and bacon. “We just had to use, like, more extreme measures to dig you out, is all!”
Speaking of the academy …
Sophie.
Fuck.
Lexi should call her. Let her know she—fuck, he, can’t afford to mix up the pronouns on the phone—was all right, safe and sound.
A gurgle from within her stomach made Lexi grab her abdomen and wince.
Meg smiled and said, “But first, breakfast!”
Did she … how did she know what Lexi was thinking? Or was that just a coincidence?
Lexi was too hungry to focus.
“Thanks for making breakfast, Meg!” Lexi said, placing pancake after pancake on her plate. “And … and thank you for the chat. I’m glad to be here with you all.” She added some eggs and bacon for good measure, smiled up at Meg, and grabbed her coffee mug and some cutlery as she headed to the dining room.
“My pleasure, darlin’,” echoed that sweet-as-honey voice from behind her.